A twice-weekly syndicated newspaper column on California public affairs.

Friday, May 26, 2017

JUST HOW RAMPANT IS CORRUPTION IN STATE GOVERNMENT?

CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2017, OR
THEREAFTER

BY THOMAS D.
ELIAS
“JUST HOW RAMPANT IS CORRUPTION IN
STATE GOV’T?”

The well-documented “fix-is-in”
proceedings which forced consumers to pay more than 70 percent of the cost of
shutting down the San Onofre Nuclear Power Station were one form of corruption
in state government for which no one has yet been punished in a meaningful way.

Similarly, when proof reached the
highest levels in state government that the California Energy Commission was in
serious conflict of interest when it handed out tens of millions of dollars in
grants to build hydrogen car refueling stations just over two years ago, no one
was punished. Gov. Jerry Brown even reappointed the commission chairman to a
new term.

These problematic actions were exposed
by media, including this column. New forms of corruption by state officials
have been exposed more recently by the state auditor and the Department of
Finance, involving both the University of California and the state’s Board of
Equalization, which has many tax-collection functions.

Taken together, the incidents indicate
corruption is probably rampant in state government. It’s hard to determine just
how widespread, because it almost always takes a whistle-blower or informant to
expose such wrongdoing. Reporters and auditors can’t simply walk into a state
office and ask the receptionist to take them to the most corrupt individuals
there. That doesn’t work.

What’s clear is that corruption takes many forms and cheats
taxpayers and consumers of many millions of dollars, possibly billions.

In the Energy Commission’s case, the consultant who designed the
map for placement of hydrogen stations and then trained state employees in
evaluating grant requests based on that map resigned after his blueprint was
approved. He then set up a new company which applied for grants and won many.
Could a grant applicant have been in a more favored position?

The San Onofre “settlement” agreed to
in a secret meeting between Southern California Edison Co. officials and
Michael Peevey, a former president of Edison who headed the Public Utilities
Commission at the time of the meeting, dunned consumers more than $3 billion.
Could a company have been in a more favored position? For sure, public hearings
held later about this settlement were completely irrelevant, as the outcome had
already been determined.

This spring’s revelations about UC and
the Board of Equalization involved completely different forms of corruption. At
UC, the auditor reported, President Janet Napolitano’s office spent $175
million less over a period of years than it budgeted for, then asked for budget
increases based on the previous over-estimated budgets and not on actual
spending, in effect maintaining an unreported slush fund that could be used for
almost anything. The auditor also
charged that Napolitano’s office interfered with the audit process, later
softening her words by saying “nothing nefarious” occurred.

Nothing nefarious? What were students
to think as they learned about this spare cash at the same time their tuition
rose?

Said Democratic Assemblyman Kevin
McCarty of Sacramento, “We’re jacking up tuition for…families, we are squeezing
access and at the same time (they) are sitting on this $175 million suitcase in
the corner.”

A fourth form of corruption was
discovered by state Finance officials at the Board of Equalization, where
elected members were found to have spent prolifically on their office
furnishings, misused tax collectors for things like parking management at
political events and interfered with some tax cases.

This board has long been a sinecure
for termed-out legislators like all four current elected members, former
Democratic lawmakers Fiona Ma and Jerome Horton and ex-GOP legislators George
Runner and Diane Harkey. It has also served as a stepping stone to statewide
office for the likes of Controller Betty Yee and Treasurer John Chiang.

While no one knows just how rampant
these types of corruption are in state government, it is clear they are not
confined to just one agency, and generally go unpunished. The fact that
examples like these turn up almost every time investigators take a close look
at an agency is one indication that a wide-ranging house-cleaning is in order.

Here’s a question for the many
declared and potential 2018 candidates for governor, none of whom has yet
spoken out about any of this: What will you do about the well-proven and
established climate of corruption that’s persisted for many years under the
last several governors?

-30-
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book,
"The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the
Government’s Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover
fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net

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About Me

Thomas Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column, appearing twice weekly in 88 newspapers around California, with circulation over 2.2 million.
He has won numerous awards from organizations like the National Headliners Club, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Los Angeles Press Club, and the California Taxpayers Association. He has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize in distinguished commentary.
Elias is the author of two books, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It" (now in its third edition; also published in Japanese and recently optioned for a television movie) and "The Simpson Trial in Black and White," co-authored with the late Dennis Schatzman.